Road to the 2018 GEICO High School Lacrosse Nationals
The consensus top-ranked Eagles registered a 40 game win streak over the last 2 years before it was snapped in its regular season finale to finish 23-1. The Eagles lost 10-9 to rival Hill Academy (ON) at the National Prep Championship in Collegeville, PA. Along the way, Culver went undefeated for the 10th consecutive season at home on Oliver Field. Earlier this month, Culver routed New Trier (IL), 18-0, and Brother Rice (MI), 15-2, to capture the Midwest Lacrosse Challenge in Indianapolis. Mike Robinson’s five goals fueled the win over New Trier in the final. Perhaps the early season’s most anticipated matchup lived up to the hype when the Eagles edged The Hill Academy, 8-7, in three overtimes when Austin Madronic’s marker ended it. Culver’s stacked schedule included games with teams from six states, District of Columbia and Canada. Notable wins included WCAC champions Gonzaga (DC), McDonogh (MD), Haverford School (PA), Trinity (KY), Episcopal Academy (PA) and St. Paul’s (MD).

Did you know?
Yes, there is a military component to the college preparatory boarding school that was founded in 1894 in northwestern Indiana (about 100 miles from Chicago, IL). Culver is comprised of three entities: Culver Military (boys), Culver Girls Academy and Culver Summer Schools. Though the school fields one of the nation’s top lacrosse programs, the campus features the Vaughn Equestrian Center, one of the nation’s largest indoor riding halls and stable complexes. The prestigious alumni index on the sports side includes pro owners George M. Steinbrenner (New York Yankees), Bud Adams (Tennessee Titans), Lamar Hunt (Kansas City Chiefs, MLS pioneer), Walter O’Malley (Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers) and Roger Penske (auto racing entrepreneur).

Key Players
The Crimson Knights are an experienced laden team with 21 seniors, including a slew that are already committed to national programs. Through 13 games, it is clear Salisbury relies on a defense that has conceded only 58 goals. “Most of our seniors have been together for three or four years; it’s been a great season coaching an experienced team,” Salisbury head coach Bobby Wynne says. The dynamic attack features seniors Teioshontathe McComber (Albany), John Lombardi (Cornell), Taite Cattoni (Johns Hopkins), Amos Gilbert (Vermont) and junior Tim Lischer (Michigan). In addition, fogo/middie Joe Neuman (Yale) wins 80% of his draws with quick hands. Both Neuman and Lombardi have been selected to play in the prestigious Under Armour All-American Game next month in Baltimore. The middle of the pack has junior Dawson Wynne (Maryland), Jacob Sampson (Hobart), Cole Allen (Siena), sophomore Jack Neill (Villanova) and Kevin Wall (Division I hockey at Merrimack). The long-sticks are Paul Governale (Vermont) and Jacob Walthour (Syracuse). The back line on defense features Quinn Towne (UMass), Foster Burnley (Dartmouth) and David DeMartino (Bryant) in front of junior netminder Logan McNaney (Maryland).

Road to the 2018 GEICO High School Lacrosse Nationals
Following a 15-5 mark a year ago, the Crimson Knights opened the season in the Florida sunshine for spring training, which included a 10-4 win over nationally ranked IMG Academy (FL) on March 30. Back in the Northeast, Salisbury recorded quality wins over Phillips Andover (MA), Berkshire School (MA), Trinity-Pawling School (NY) and Loomis-Chaffee (CT). Just recently Salisbury secured a major victory of league rival Brunswick (CT) 13-10 while both were ranked in the top 5 of the country. That portion of the schedule gave way to the unforgiving stretch in Western New England Division I. The regular season ended with what Wynne referred to as “the gauntlet before coming to Washington for the GEICO Lacrosse Nationals,”. This included a run of May games against archrivals Taft School (CT), Deerfield Academy (MA), Avon Old Farms (CT) and Choate Rosemary (CT). Salisbury saw its win streak to the open the season halted at 13 games in a 9-6 loss to Deerfield Academy on May 16th. Wynne’s crew will take the field at Catholic University well prepared and battle tested.

Did you know?
Life at a New England prep school means multi-tasking for head coach Bobby Wynne. In addition to his duties as Director of Lacrosse Operations, the former highly decorated midfielder and two-time national champion from Hobart (Class of 1994) currently serves as Salisbury’s assistant headmaster and director of college advising. Wynne came to “The Hilltop”, which is located in the rural northwest corner of Connecticut (2 hours from New York City) after a successful stint as the Virginia Wesleyan head and assistant gigs at Hampden-Sydney, Hobart and Cornell. Since 2003 Wynne is closing in on 150 career wins at Salisbury and has captured a share of five New England championships (2003, ’04, ’05, ’09 and ’12) and an outright title in 2010. In the last five graduating classes, Wynne has seen 57 student-athletes play on the collegiate level. Hill Academy head coach Brodie Merrill is an alumnus (Class of 2001).

Key Players
In four years, Bullis has made serious inroads in the local prep lacrosse scene and holds their own against conference rivals and powerhouse programs from the Baltimore and Washington Catholic leagues. The Bulldogs feature depth up and down the field and favor an up-tempo offensive style that will shoot or score within 35 seconds. The main goal scorers include junior attack Connor Shellenberger (Virginia), Robert Schain (Pennsylvania) and sophomore Isaac Aronson. The middies are versatile to transition from long-pole to offense in a flash with junior Bryson Shaw (Ohio State football recruit) and Jonathan Hsu (Washington & Lee) pushing the pace. The main playmaker is Towson-bound Jonathan Bender with juniors Jonathan Brown (Jacksonville), Matt Kelly and senior Matt Welch flanking him. The defense relies on long-pole Blake Rodgers, a Johns Hopkins recruit and Kyle Fairbanks (Navy) who work to keep the attack away from rotating goalies Jonah Scher (Gettysburg) and freshman Jack Fracyon.

Road to the 2018 GEICO High School Lacrosse Nationals
The Bulldogs (15-3) won the Interstate Athletic Conference (IAC) championship over Landon School (VA), 9-8, on May 11 for a seventh straight victory. Sophomore attack Isaac Aronson sank the game-winner with 8.6 seconds left to snap an 8-all deadlock. The IAC is considered one of the nation’s top leagues with other members Georgetown Prep (GEICO Nationals participant) Episcopal (VA), Landon School (VA), St. Albans (DC) and St. Stephens & St. Agnes (GEICO Nationals participant). “The top four teams in the IAC this year were amazing and the next two were very, very good,” fourth-year head coach Jeff Bellistri says. The Bulldogs played a competitive nonleague schedule against schools from Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and District of Columbia. Quality wins include Quince Orchard (MD), Calverton (MD) and Cape Henlopen (DE). The Bulldogs suffered a loss to GEICO Nationals participant Hill Academy, 10-4, on March 17.

Did you know?
Bullis School was founded in Washington, DC in 1930 by Commander William Francis Bullis, but moved to suburban Maryland in the 1960s and went co-ed in 1981. Bullis was originally created as a prep school for the service academies at Annapolis and West Point. Coincidentally Bullis head coach Jeff Bellistri is a proud graduate from the Naval Academy and played lacrosse for the Midshipmen (Class of 1986, B.S. in Oceanography). The coach’s son, Kylor Bellistri (Bullis Class of 2012, HS All-American), currently plays professionally for the Boston Cannons after a famed career at Brown University. Kylor was a USILA All-American and Tewaaraton Award Nominee in 2016. Last year he tallied 25 goals with 14 assists in 12 games for Boston.

Key Players
When colleges are looking for players, it’s a safe bet they flock to The Hill Academy just outside of Toronto. The “Canadian Pipeline” of talent seems never ending. This year is no different with a senior group that includes goalie Brett Dobson, who is headed to first-year program St. Bonaventure, defender Jake Saunders (Richmond),fogos/middies Lucas Clarke (Bellarmine) and Lucas Snider (Drexel). Adding depth to the attack are Cornell recruits Billy Coyle and Henry Follows, Nathan Banff (UMBC), Donovan Welsh (Michigan) and middie Carter Brand (Denver). Coyle combines outstanding footwork, shifty dodging and an incendiary release that will make him a favorite in Ithaca. The junior class is stacked with talent at all three levels, highlighted by attackman Dyson Williams (Duke), middie Josh Zawada (Syracuse) and defender Zach Young (North Carolina). Williams is quick and athletic with superior hands, Zawada is a two-way middie and Young is a defensive ace.

Road to the 2018 GEICO High School Lacrosse Nationals
The Canadian squad enters the GEICO Lacrosse Nationals after wrapping up their regular season winning the National Prep Championships last weekend in Collegeville, PA defeating previously unbeaten Culver Military Academy (IN), 10-9, to avenge a loss to them last month. Hill Academy (10-4), plays a schedule exclusively against U.S. teams on the road or neutral sites so it is eligible for American high school national rankings. The Pride rattled off six-straight victories during a midseason run, buthad a rare slippage in the latter portion of the campaign, dropping three matches to top-shelf competition Culver Military, Brunswick School (CT) and IMG Academy (FL). “We hit the reset and went back to who are before coming to Washington,” Hill head coach Brodie Merrill says. That means pressure defense, transition offense and sharing the ball on offense.” The early schedule was laden with private schools teams from Maryland, District of Columbia and Pennsylvania. Among the solid wins were Loyola-Blakefield (MD), Calvert Hall (MD) and John Carroll (MD) from the Baltimore area,Penn Charter (PA) and La Salle College High (PA) from Philadelphia and Avon Old Farms (CT). The Pride beat fellow GEICO invitee Bullis School (MD), 10-4, on March 17.

Did you know?
Those who attended the inaugural GEICO High School Lacrosse Nationals will remember Keegan Khan of the Pride. In the semifinals, Khan totaled seven points on four goals and three assists to defeat St. Sebastian’s (MA), 12-10, and that solid play was transferred to Villanova this spring, where the Canadian was unanimously named the Big East Freshman of the Year—the first such honor since the Wildcats joined the conference in 2010. Khan, who also earned a spot on the All-Big East Second Team with 28 points and 13 assists, including a seven-goal effort versus Marquette, which helped the Wildcats earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Khan’s teammate at The Hill, Justin Ignacio of Ohio State, was tabbed Big Ten Freshman of the Year. A member of the U19 Canadian National Team, Ignacio won 82 of 130 draws (.613 percentage).

Key Players
The Arrows, who advanced to last year’s semifinals, are one of New England’s top prep school teams. Long-stick middie Will Friscoli (Harvard recruit) is the third-rated player from the Class of 2019. His running mates are Maryland-bound William Plansky (dad Mark played hoops at Villanova), Matthew DeSisto and Peter Murphy—both headed to Holy Cross. The speedy Murphy kick-starts the attack while DeSisto is one of the top two-way middies. Fortifying the attack are talented juniors Michael Swirbalus (Duke), Brian Piatelli (will join his brother John at Cornell) and senior Peter Pickard (Connecticut College), whose mom Suzie passed away a year ago with teammates still wearing pink in her memory. The Arrows rotate two goalies with Alexander Gainey (Johns Hopkins) starting and junior Mac Fotiades (Michigan) going in the second half. Brendan McKenzie (Holy Cross) is the team’s faceoff specialist.

Road to the 2018 GEICO High School Lacrosse Nationals
The Boston area all-male Catholic school scheduled one of the most competitive slates in New England and is a member of the Independent School League (ISL). The ISL is composed of 16 day and boarding schools from Eastern Massachusetts. The Arrows also play in the New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC). This spring the Arrows (16-2) opened with 10 straight wins before dropping an 8-6 ISL matchup to Belmont Hill. They also lost to powerhouse Governor’s Academy, 11-9, but own wins over IMG Academy (FL), Phillips Exeter Academy (MA), Noble & Greenough (MA) and New Hampton School (NH). St. Seb’s concluded with Thayer Academy on May 21 before departing for the GEICO Nationals.

Did you know?
St. Sebastian’s began playing lacrosse in 1981 and quickly grew into one of the top teams in the top prep school league—Independent School League—in New England. St. Sebastian’s, which competed at the inaugural GEICO High School Lacrosse Nationals in 2017 while going 18-3 and sharing the ISL title, is guided by head coach Adam White, who previously was the defensive coordinator under Ted Weihman at St. Seb’s. White played at Dartmouth and was a senior co-captain, earning individual All-Ivy League and Academic All-Ivy accolades. He has a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Columbia and teaches English and writing at the school.

Key Players
The Dallas Metroplex is quickly becoming a lacrosse hotbed. Long known for football excellence—many of ESD’s players crossover for football in the fall—the Eagles are gaining a national reputation on the lacrosse-recruiting trail. Scott Bower, a Virginia commit, is earning the moniker “The Eraser” for his ability to defend the opponent’s top goal scorer. Bower is considered the top defender from the Class of 2019. Bower is flanked by 6’5” long-stick Andrew Griffin, sophomore Braden Montgomery, junior Carson Raney (Loyola recruit) and sophomore Henry Watson. Prescott King is a 6’4” lanky goalie and will attend SMU. The defensive-minded midfield features Pat Skalnak (Naval Academy), Blair Oden and Braden Rhone (Washington & Lee). Georgetown-bound Brandon Meaux is an all-around attack and plays the X. Sophomore Drew Wasserman is a proficient finisher around the cage and classmate Caden Dundon possesses top stick skills. “We play fast, up-tempo but not reckless. Everyone buys into playing defense too,” head coach Pat Kennedy says.

Road to the 2018 GEICO High School Lacrosse Nationals
The Eagles (18-3) enter the GEICO Lacrosse Nationals looking for redemption following a loss in the Texas Division I state semifinals. ESD went 16-2 in the regular season, going 14-0 versus Texas competition and 6-0 in Division I North West District play. Once the postseason began, ESD ratcheted the offense, rolling by Plano West, 18-4, in the districts and Dripping Springs, 20-3, in the Super Regionals. It came crashing down on May 12 in Round Rock when archrival St. Mark’s (Dallas) halted the Eagles’ win streak at 10 games in an 11-7 win in the state semifinals. The Eagles defeated St. Mark’s, 10-9, in overtime in the Southwest Preparatory Conference final on April 6. Coincidentally, St. Mark’s then lost in the state finals to The Woodlands, 10-6, who participated in last year’s inaugural GEICO Nationals.

Did you know?
Head coach Pat Kennedy has changed the face of the Episcopal lacrosse program since his arrival in 2012. The Eagles won a state title in 2014, five SPC crowns and qualified for a sixth consecutive state tournament this spring. Prior to Episcopal, Kennedy coached at the College of Mount St. Joseph, Catholic Memorial, Summit Country Day School (OH) and Archbishop Moeller (OH). Additionally, he played professionally for the Chicago Machine of the Major Lacrosse League. Kennedy had a stellar prep career at Moeller (OH), where he was the school’s all-time leader in scoring and earned All-American honors. He was named first team All-State and All-Team Midwest two straight seasons. He went to Syracuse, leading the Orange to the NCAA National Championship in 2000 and runner-up finish in 1999. As a student, Kennedy was named to the school’s Academic Honor Roll.

Key Players
The Saints are built on a tradition of conference and state championships and alumni coaches, who returned to SSSAS to ensure the programs maintains that excellence. Head coach Tim Dodds says hewill start Jeffrey Kedda in goal, but will rotate in Jack Siegel (Amherst) and Will Sterrett (RIT). The defense depends on captain Silas Newsome (Brown), Trice Crawford and Drew Pascal. Junior Andrew Tyeryar (North Carolina) wins 77% of the draws with attacking middie Mason Edwards (UMBC) and sophomore long-pole Ben Wayer (Ohio State) in the wings. The middies are Austin Stewart (Denver), who surpassed 150 career points, Rainier Lee (Providence), Jack Wood (Trinity) and Jack Lambeth and Spencer Talley (both Sewanee recruits). Scoring isn’t an issue with Connor McCulloch (Utah), a 100-goal career man,, All-American junior Jackson Reynolds (Penn State) and junior Nick DuPuis.

Road to the 2018 GEICO High School Lacrosse Nationals
The Saints (15-8) are one three Washington area schools invited to the GEICO Lacrosse Nationals, joining fellow conference brethren Georgetown Prep (MD) and Bullis School (MD). The regular season saw the Saints play powerhouse programs from Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and District of Columbia. In the Interstate Athletic Conference regular season, the Saint narrowly lost to both Georgetown Prep, 6-5, and Bullis, 8-5. They lost in the IAC tournament semifinals to Landon School (VA), 13-11. Quality wins were came against DeMatha (MD), Hill Academy (Ontario), St. Anne’s-Belfield (VA) and Collegiate School (VA). Leading up to this weekend, the Saints lost in the Virginia Independent Athletic Association Division I final to Paul VI (Fairfax), 10-4. They also stopped Norfolk Academy, 10-9, in the semifinals and Bishop O’Connell (Arlington), 15-10, in the first round.

Did you know?
St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes was created in 1991 when St. Agnes (all-girls) and St. Stephen’s (all-boys) merged, forming the three-campus Episcopal coed private school in historical Alexandria, VA. The school operates under a student-established honor code system that was modeled after one at the University of Virginia. At the beginning of each academic school year, students pledge their commitment and sign copies of the honor code. Some of the school’s most recognizable alumni include Tipper Gore, Margaret Stender (founding President and CEO of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky), actor Christopher Meloni (Law & Order SVU, HBO drama Oz), columnist Thomas Boswell (Washington Post) and MLB broadcaster Dave Flemming (radio man for the San Francisco Giants).

Key Players
There’s a reason why the Little Hoyas reached the GEICO Lacrosse National inaugural championship a year ago: Consistency and persistency. For a program that resides in pound-for-pound the nation’s top league (Interstate Athletic League), Prep takes those qualities and injects a talented base of players. This all stems from Head coach Scott Urick, known for his toughness and versatility as a player at Georgetown University. Urick’s team leans on the goal-scoring abilities of senior attackmen T Ridgeway (20 goals, 24 assists), Caleb Fernandez (28, 9, Penn recruit) and junior Connor Humiston (25, 10, Georgetown University commit). Ridgway, who sank the winning goal in last year’s semifinal overtime-win over IMG Academy is the primary set-up man and has signed with Richmond. The main middies are junior Finn Muldoon (14, 8), Thomas Graham (13, 5), Dartmouth-bound Andrew Cave (17, 5), James Flannery (Naval Academy) and Adson Reynolds (Trinity). In goal there’s the duo of junior Justin Clark (Villanova) and senior Jack Van Slyke (Bucknell). There’s quality on defense with juniors Jake Giulieri (Notre Dame), Andrew Johnston (Dartmouth), junior Clay Lanham and sophomore Max Cooney—both committed to North Carolina.

Road to the 2018 GEICO High School Lacrosse Nationals
The Little Hoyas (9-8) are one of three teams invited back to the GEICO Lacrosse Nationals and understand what it means to compete in big games. As a member of the IAC (going 1-2 against GEICO invitees SSSAS and Bullis this spring in league play), Prep is in exclusive company for a loop that annually sits atop the schoolboy lacrosse mountain. It was an up-and-down season for second-year head coach Scott Urick’s club, which had a modest three-game win streak in March and defeated Jesuit rivals Gonzaga (DC), 7-6, in overtime during that frame. For the second straight year, the Little Hoyas were bounced in the IAC semifinals, falling to Bullis, 13-7. They defeated Episcopal (VA), 14-4, in the first round. Since 2003, Prep has won the IAC title nine times and was twice declared National Champions (in 2003 and ’06).

Did you know?
A year ago, the nation discovered the power of Georgetown Prep lacrosse. With three games televised nationally on the ESPN family of networks, the Little Hoyas pulled out two thrilling wins at the GEICO Lacrosse Nationals eventually falling to Hill Academy, 12-6, in lightning-delayed final. In the opening game, T Ridgeway fired in four goals as Prep rallied in the third quarter to stop The Woodlands (TX), 11-9. Ridgeway, a Richmond signee, would figure prominently in the Little Hoyas’ scintillating 13-12 overtime-victory over heavily favored IMG Academy (FL). Only 26 seconds into the extra period, Ridgeway let fly a 20-yard rocket that won it. Yet the final was a different story as inclement weather produced long delays of nearly an hour. When play resumed in the third quarter, Hill Academy expanded on a 7-5 lead with five unanswered goals and the Little Hoyas saw their magic run ended.

GEICO

GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company) is a member of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies and is the second-largest private passenger auto insurance company in the United States. GEICO, which was founded in 1936, provides millions of auto insurance quotes to U.S. drivers annually. The company is pleased to serve more than 16 million private passenger customers, insuring more than 27 million vehicles (auto & cycle).

Paragon Marketing Group

Paragon Marketing Group, an engagement marketing consultancy, owns and operates the GEICO High School National Tournament. We develop marketing platforms grounded in sports, entertainment, music, arts, cause and media partnerships. These platforms are created to develop engaged, sustainable relationships with our clients’ target audiences. Additionally, we are committed to creating a culture that delivers a great place to work and engenders long-term, healthy business partnerships.

Since our inception in 1995, we have grown from 3 people to over 80 marketing professionals, all of whom have a passion for sponsorship marketing. Our core competencies include sponsorship targeting/identification, evaluation, negotiation, activation, execution and measurement. Additionally, many of our clients have trusted Paragon to deliver value in the areas of event creation, mobile marketing, digital/social marketing platforms and television/digital content production.

In 2002, we secured the rights to put LeBron James, Cleveland’s then star high school basketball player, on ESPN2. Their subsequent broadcast of the game against Oak Hill Academy garnered the highest ratings ever for the channel and created a new television category — live national broadcast of high school football, basketball, and lacrosse. Since then, our relationship with ESPN has grown into a strategic partnership showcasing the top high school football and basketball teams and players to a national audience each season.

To date we have partnered with ESPN to televise over 550 high school events featuring teams from 35 states. Games featured some of the biggest names in sports including Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, Kevin Love, Derrick Rose, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Tim Tebow, Jadeveon Clowney, Julio Jones, AJ Green and Jameis Winston.

Paragon partners with ESPN on the following live properties:

GEICO ESPN High School Football Kickoff & Showcase
GEICO ESPN High School Basketball Showcase
GEICO State Champions Bowl Series
GEICO High School Basketball Nationals
GEICO High School Lacrosse Nationals